


Insect Taxidermy for Beginners

by enmity



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: BBS, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-02-22 21:00:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23833657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enmity/pseuds/enmity
Summary: Ienzo takes up a new hobby. (Good for him.)
Relationships: Even & Ienzo (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 14





	Insect Taxidermy for Beginners

_o1. even, ienzo | butterfly_

Even would leave Ienzo to his own devices as he did work, letting the boy perch on one of the side tables or the plastic stool he kept around for the rare visitor that never stayed very long, in the days before he knew better. Quiet and unflinching the child was, and he devoured the thickest tomes with an astonishing readiness, but when books failed to pull his interest the latent restlessness floated all too quickly to the surface, and Even could only stand so much of Ienzo’s fidgeting and twitching and ill-advised attempts to reach over a counter to touch beakers he shouldn’t (and sniff liquids he _definitely_ shouldn’t) before countermeasures had to be applied.

He couldn’t very well start babyproofing the laboratory, and delegating someone to look after him would be more trouble than was worth. And besides it was understood that Ienzo was _his—_ Even’s ward to take care of and nurture and teach and shape, a boy to craft and mold into the shape of his potential—and so he huffed and dug the depths of a shelf drawer for an old jigsaw puzzle, a hastily murmured “something to keep your hands busy _,”_ as he handed it to the boy with little fanfare.

“A butterfly,” Ienzo said, later, fingertips tracing the dozen grooves of the picture he’d assembled. Across the desk, Even silently noted the glazed, faraway look the child's eye had taken.

He felt himself rolling his eyes, “Yes, that’s precisely what it is.” Ienzo’s gaze never strayed from the painted insect’s wings, as if marveling at them, and—feeling an uncharacteristic tug of fondness—Even leaned over, adding, “We can go to the garden tomorrow, and look at some real ones. We’ll take notes, compare wing patterns. Would that please you, child?”

Ienzo nodded. But his face went a touch sour; his hands braced the wooden board a little more tightly.

“The real ones are different though. They keep flying away.”

Even frowned, but said nothing, just patted him on the shoulder and went back to work. And he didn’t say anything either, two afternoons later, when he looked away to find Ienzo bent over a Common Blue, expression blank as he plucked antennae and pinned cerulean wings between metal tweezers, tiny hands calm with the delicate attention that belonged to a surgeon-in-training.

He was scribbling something intermittently onto a piece of paper, and it took Even clearing his throat before he acknowledged the call of his name.

 _At least he’s keeping his hands off_ my _work_ , Even thought, brushing aside the instinctive, _when had he caught that?_ He'd always been such a crafty one, and the day hadn't come yet when Even would regard the fact as for the worse rather than better. Within days Ienzo had taken to trap his newest specimens in glass jars, taking them apart and writing down notes with a quiet, methodical frequency. _Such a fast learner_ , a part of him remarked (though not aloud; he was always careful to keep the boy from nursing an ego). _So much potential_ —and before he knew it the smile he wore had blossomed into a grin.

He muffled a laugh behind gloved knuckles, and resolved to bring Ienzo a copy of _Insect Taxidermy for Beginners_ for his birthday next week.

**Author's Note:**

> we <3 random word generators
> 
> we also <3 ienzo being a creepy child ;w;


End file.
